Dispenser.



' W.P. WILLIAMSON.

DISPENSER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 21. 1915.

Patented Feb. 20, 1917;

rIIIIIIIII INVENTOR.

A TTORNEY.

Enron.

WILLIAM P. WILLIAMSON, 0F LUDLOW, MASSACHUSETTS. v

DISPENSER.

Application filed November 27, 1915. Serial N 0. 63,888.

dispensers, for coffee, sugar, and other materials having a pulverulent or granular form, that is to say, to vessels or containers which are designed to dispense or discharge their contents progressively or in succeeding quantities of approximately equal proportions or amounts, such contents consisting of .pulverulent or granular material or materials as aforesaid, and said invention resides in a container, receptacle, or case provided with -a funnel-shaped false-bottom, and in an interior perforated spout, to which latter said false-bottom is preferably attached, instead of to, said case, and an interior cover through which the small end of said spout opens or extends to open, to-

gether with a closure for said end of said spout, all as hereinafter set forth.

One object of my invention is to produce a dispensing device, of the class specified, which is capable of discharging its contents in predetermined quantities b3 inversion,

such device being inverted for each dis.

due to the few parts required in the con-' struction of said device, their arrangement,

and the facility with which said parts can be separated and again put together.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages of my invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

I which- Figure 1 is a central vertical section through a dispenser which embodies a pracr ticalform of my invention; Fig. 2, a top plan of said dispenser, the exterior cover being removed, and, Fig. 3, a transverse sec-' tion through the dispenser, taken on lines- 33 in Fig. looking down.

Specification of Letters Patent. Ratented Feb,

Similar numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views.

This dispenser may be made of any suitable material and any desired size, and, although I have shown a cylindrical device,

it is plainly to be seen that the same might be rectangular or have some other shape-in cross section.

I am aware that dispensers which include internal spouts are old, and do not, therefore, seek to cover such a device broadly or apart from the new and special features found in my device.

Referring to the drawings it will be observed that the dispenser comprises a case, holder, or. container 1 which has a true bottom 2 and is provided with a false-bottom 4, an interior chute or spout 5 which has one or more perforations or openings 6 therein, an interior cover 7 perforated to receive the upper terminal part of said spout, and by preference an exterior cap or cover 8.

The container -1 is of ordinary construction and should be of a suflicient size to hold the required or desired maximum quantity of coffee, sugar, or other material to be dis pensed therefrom.

Usually the spout 5 should be made tapering, or in any event should be constricted at its discharge end, in order that the material discharged therefrom shall not escape too rapidly. The spout 5 rests on the bottom 2, and the openings 6 (three in the present case) are located in the wallof said spout a short distance above said bottom. The spout 5 is open at both ends, and it is the large end thereof that is on the bottom 2. The bottom 2, therefore, serves for both the container. 1 and the spout.

The false-bottom 4 surrounds the "spout 5 and flares upwardly and outwardly from' said spout, so that it may be described as funnel-shaped. The false-bottom extends from the spout 5 quite to the wall of the.

container 1 and completely separates the space above said false-bottom from that below the same. most portion of the false-bottom 4 should be on the same horizontal plane with the bottoms of the openings 6, for the reason presently to be given. It is preferred that the false-bottom 4 be secured to the spout 5, as shown, instead of to the container 1.

The material on or in the funnel-shaped false-bottom 4: enters the spout 5 through The innermost and lower-- the openings 6, flowing into said spout until .the base of the latter is filled from the floor 2 up to the level of the upper edges of said openings, when further supply to said spout is cut off, there being no other entrance to the spout from within the container 1. This spout-supplying operation, which is entirely automatic, takes place while and whenever the container 1 is positioned with the bottom 2 down, and is repeated as often as the spout 5 is emptied, until said container itself is entirely emptied. Such complete clearance of the container is due to the shape of the false-bottom 4 and to the position of said false-bottom relative to the openings 6, since the material in said container all rests on said false-bottom and must eventually gravitate to said openings and pass through the same into the spout 5.

Obviously the size, shape, and elevation of the openings 6 may be changed, and the elevation of the false-bottom 4 as Well, although the latter should be located with the part that contacts with the spout 5 on the same horizontal plane with the bottom of the openings. By increasing the height of the openings 6, or locating said openings higher, or both, the quantity of material receivable at a time in the spout 5 is increased, since in any case the distance from the bottom of said spout or from the floor 2-to the top of said openings is then greater. It as clearly follows that, by decreasing the height of the openings 6, or locating said openings lower,

. or both, the quantity of material receivable at a time in the spout 5 is decreased, the distance between the floor 2 and the upper edges of said openings then being less. The falsebottom 4 must be accommodated to any change in location of the openings 6, by being placed higher or lower'so that its inner 'edge will be level with the lower edges of v the openings as before, I

The interior cover 7 is inverted, and ha an inwardly-extending rolled flange 9 at the top, such flange serving in lieu of a handle or other part to be grasped when removing and replacing said cover, and designed to be used for that purpose. The upper terminal of the spout 5 passes through the horizontal part of the cover 7, and said cover steadies said spout and assists in holding it in place. This is one purpose of the cover 7, and another purpose of said cover is to close the upper end of the container 1 around the spout 5 and prevent the contents of said container from escaping when the container is inverted. The cover 7 should fit quite tightly into the upper end of the container 1, in order to enable it to perform the two more important oflices for which it is provided. By using the cover 7 in an inverted position not only is the stability of the de- 5 vice enhanced, but provision is made for allowlng the discharge terminal of the spout 5 to protrude, so as to render it easy to obtain the contents of said device, and space is provided within the container for such protruding terminal.

The exterior cover 8 is of the ordinary type and serves mainly as a closure for the small or discharge end of the spout 5, which end is completely closed by said cover when the latter is in place over the normal upper end of the container. An ordinary cork stopper might be used for the small end of the spout 5, in place of the cover 8, but the latter is more secure, practical, and desirable, for obvious reasons.

The container 1 is filled or loaded by removing both covers 8 and 7 and pouring in the required amount of material, after which said covers are replaced. The dispenser, now ready for use, is inverted each time it is desired to obtain some of the contents thereof, and the material which has entered and is contained in the bottom part of the spout 5', as previously explained, passes through said spout and out into a cup or other receptacle under the discharge end of said spout. .When the container 1 is inverted practically all of the material therein but outside of the spout 5 still remains outside of said spout. The discharging operation is repeated until the container is empty, when said container isrefilled.

The device can be easily and most thoroughly cleansed when the covers are removed and the spout with the false-bottom is taken out of the container, as will be clearly seen. The ease and thoroughness with which this dispenser can be cleared,

and disinfected if desired, are factors of.

great importance in a device of this kind.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is.

1. A dispenser comprising a container having a bottom, an internal perforated spout seated on the bottom of said container, a substantially funnel-shaped false-bottom surrounding and attached to said spout below the perforated part thereof and extending from the latter to the side walls of said container, whereby the contents of the container is prevented from entering the space between said bottom of the containerand said false-bottom and whereby the contents can all be dispensed through said spout, and a closure for said container surrounding said spout at the end that is most remote from said false-bottom. 1

2. The combination, in a dispenser, with a container closed at one end and open at the other end, of a tapering, open-ended, and perforated spout adapted torest on'the closed end of said container, a substantially funnel-shaped member secured to said spout below the perforated part thereof, and when I 10 exterior imperforate cover fitting the outside of the container over said open end and said inverted cover and closing the adjacent end of said spout, said exterior cover being independent of said first-mentioned cover and removable from the container. v v

' P. WILLIAMSON.-

Witnesses:

LEWIS J. WILLIAMSON, F. A. CUTTER. 

